try-finally (C# Reference)
The finally block is useful for cleaning up any resources that are allocated in the try block, and for running any code that must execute even if an exception occurs in the try block. Typically, the statements of a finally block are executed when control leaves a try statement, whether the transfer of control occurs as a result of normal execution, of execution of a break, continue, goto, or return statement, or of propagation of an exception out of the try statement.
Within a handled exception, the associated finally block is guaranteed to be run. However, if the exception is unhandled, execution of the finally block is dependent on how the exception unwind operation is triggered. That, in turn, is dependent on how your computer is set up. For more information, see Unhandled Exception Processing in the CLR.
Usually, when an unhandled exception ends an application, whether or not the finally block is run is not important. However, if you have statements in a finally block that must be run even in that situation, one solution is to add a catch block to the try-finally statement. Alternatively, you can catch the exception that might be thrown in the try block of a try-finally statement higher up the call stack. That is, you can catch the exception in the method that calls the method that contains the try-finally statement, or in the method that calls that method, or in any method in the call stack. If the exception is not caught, execution of the finally block depends on whether the operating system chooses to trigger an exception unwind operation.
Example
In the following example, an invalid conversion statement causes a System.InvalidCastException exception. The exception is unhandled.
public class ThrowTestA
{
static void Main()
{
int i = 123;
string s = "Some string";
object obj = s;
try
{
// Invalid conversion; obj contains a string, not a numeric type.
i = (int)obj;
// The following statement is not run.
Console.WriteLine("WriteLine at the end of the try block.");
}
finally
{
// To run the program in Visual Studio, type CTRL+F5. Then
// click Cancel in the error dialog.
Console.WriteLine("\nExecution of the finally block after an unhandled\n" +
"error depends on how the exception unwind operation is triggered.");
Console.WriteLine("i = {0}", i);
}
}
// Output:
// Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid.
//
// Execution of the finally block after an unhandled
// error depends on how the exception unwind operation is triggered.
// i = 123
}
In the following example, an exception from the TryCast method is caught in a method farther up the call stack.
public class ThrowTestB
{
static void Main()
{
try
{
// TryCast produces an unhandled exception.
TryCast();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Catch the exception that is unhandled in TryCast.
Console.WriteLine
("Catching the {0} exception triggers the finally block.",
ex.GetType());
// Restore the original unhandled exception. You might not
// know what exception to expect, or how to handle it, so pass
// it on.
throw;
}
}
public static void TryCast()
{
int i = 123;
string s = "Some string";
object obj = s;
try
{
// Invalid conversion; obj contains a string, not a numeric type.
i = (int)obj;
// The following statement is not run.
Console.WriteLine("WriteLine at the end of the try block.");
}
finally
{
// Report that the finally block is run, and show that the value of
// i has not been changed.
Console.WriteLine("\nIn the finally block in TryCast, i = {0}.\n", i);
}
}
// Output:
// In the finally block in TryCast, i = 123.
// Catching the System.InvalidCastException exception triggers the finally block.
// Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid.
}
For more information about finally, see try-catch-finally.
C# also contains the using statement, which provides a convenient syntax for the same functionality as a try-finally statement.
C# Language Specification
For more information, see the C# Language Specification. The language specification is the definitive source for C# syntax and usage.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Explicitly Throw Exceptions
Reference
try, catch, and throw Statements (C++)
Exception Handling Statements (C# Reference)